因有損聽(tīng)力,TWS一直廣遭詬病,骨傳導(dǎo)耳機(jī)亦因健康及音質(zhì)問(wèn)題未能普及。如此需求背景下,開放式耳機(jī)粉墨登場(chǎng)。
據(jù)潮電智庫(kù)了解,以索尼、小米、Cleer、大十科技、韶音等五大廠牌都已進(jìn)入開放式耳機(jī)領(lǐng)域,共發(fā)布相關(guān)產(chǎn)品10款。
上述某家耳機(jī)廠商高管王華(化名)透露說(shuō),“2022年公司開放式耳機(jī)的業(yè)績(jī)同比增加了兩三倍。從市場(chǎng)前景來(lái)看,未來(lái)甚至有望替代TWS。”
開放式耳機(jī)真正的崛起,是在最近一兩年。
大十科技在2021年行業(yè)峰會(huì)首次全球性公開提出“OWS(Open Wearable Stereo)”的概念;而早在2019年就對(duì)開放式耳機(jī)有所試探的Cleer(深圳市冠旭電子股份有限公司旗下品牌),在2022年1月發(fā)布了首款開放式耳機(jī)ARC音??;索尼則在最近兩年連續(xù)發(fā)布了兩款開放式耳機(jī)產(chǎn)品。
據(jù)悉,華為、小米、OPPO、榮耀等廠商正在跟進(jìn),并且將在今年推出自己的開放式耳機(jī)。
Cleer
Cleer目前官網(wǎng)在售開放式耳機(jī)共四款,分別是ARC“音弧”、ARC II“音弧”運(yùn)動(dòng)版、ARC II“音弧”音樂(lè)版、ARC II“音弧”游戲版。
Cleer主要產(chǎn)品有開放式耳機(jī)、入耳式耳機(jī)、頭戴式耳機(jī)、音響等。目前Cleer已經(jīng)入駐英國(guó)“Harrods哈洛德”與“selfridges塞爾福里奇”兩大國(guó)際奢侈品百貨專柜。
Cleer憑借深圳市冠旭電子股份有限公司在聲學(xué)領(lǐng)域多年的積累,從而在生產(chǎn)以及研發(fā)上具備得天獨(dú)厚的優(yōu)勢(shì),并且在發(fā)聲單元、音頻調(diào)教、降噪技術(shù)、無(wú)線連接、人體工學(xué)等方面具備自己的專利特色。
據(jù)報(bào)道,Cleer在2022年1月推出的首款開放式耳機(jī)ARC音弧,于同年抖音618、818、雙11等促銷活動(dòng)中,均穩(wěn)居影音類商品榜、品牌榜、店鋪榜銷售榜首。
時(shí)隔一年,Cleer推出ARC II音弧。
Cleer有關(guān)負(fù)責(zé)人表示,“目前開放式耳機(jī)格局逐漸打開,公司對(duì)未來(lái)市場(chǎng)前景十分看好,也會(huì)繼續(xù)加碼該項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)。”
大十科技
大十科技目前官網(wǎng)在售耳機(jī)有兩款,分別為OWS 1和OWS 2。
“OWS”,是一款全開放穿戴式耳機(jī)產(chǎn)品。OWS耳機(jī)在自然狀態(tài)下除重力外0外在壓力,有用戶生動(dòng)地反饋“把耳機(jī)忘在耳朵上了。”
大十科技Jay-Yang 認(rèn)為,基于人們對(duì)高品質(zhì)的需求,入耳式耳機(jī)不是最優(yōu)解,開放式是未來(lái)。OWS耳機(jī)幫助用戶聽(tīng)得更真切、更沉浸、擁有更和諧的人機(jī)交互。好的產(chǎn)品是科技與藝術(shù)的融合,不僅追求功能,也追求情感體驗(yàn)。
目前,由8位來(lái)自BOSE成員所組成的大十科技繼承了重研發(fā)、求創(chuàng)新的傳統(tǒng),公司已經(jīng)在30+國(guó)家地區(qū)銷售,獲得亞馬遜2022年度創(chuàng)新品牌獎(jiǎng)、2022德國(guó)紅點(diǎn)產(chǎn)品設(shè)計(jì)大獎(jiǎng),以及日本眾籌平臺(tái)Makuake2022年度最佳項(xiàng)目銀獎(jiǎng)。
大十科技憑借其亮眼的產(chǎn)品強(qiáng)勢(shì)打入開放式耳機(jī)戰(zhàn)局,但聲學(xué)領(lǐng)域的產(chǎn)品開發(fā)亦需要龐大的研發(fā)團(tuán)隊(duì)與生產(chǎn)團(tuán)隊(duì)支持,如何走得更深更遠(yuǎn),對(duì)于還未形成規(guī)?;拇笫萍紒?lái)說(shuō),是一個(gè)值得思考的問(wèn)題。
索尼
索尼目前官網(wǎng)在售開放式耳機(jī)有兩款,分別為linkBuds真無(wú)線耳機(jī)和Float Run懸浮豆非入耳開放式運(yùn)動(dòng)耳機(jī)。
索尼在2018年的時(shí)候,推出過(guò)一款全開放式耳機(jī) Xperia Ear Duo,但Xperia Ear Duo似乎只屬于少數(shù)人的狂歡,索尼遲遲未推出它的續(xù)作產(chǎn)品。
2022年5月,索尼發(fā)布了開放式真無(wú)線耳機(jī)linkBuds;今年2月,索尼正式推出Float Run懸浮豆非入耳開放式運(yùn)動(dòng)耳機(jī)。
如此短的新品發(fā)布周期,也意味著索尼在開放式耳機(jī)領(lǐng)域的強(qiáng)勢(shì)加碼。在王華看來(lái),索尼具有強(qiáng)大國(guó)際品牌優(yōu)勢(shì),會(huì)對(duì)市場(chǎng)普及和行業(yè)發(fā)展起到積極的作用。
從市場(chǎng)反饋來(lái)看,F(xiàn)loat Run這款產(chǎn)品受到消費(fèi)者的廣泛認(rèn)可。潮電智庫(kù)從網(wǎng)絡(luò)上的測(cè)評(píng)文章以及評(píng)論區(qū)觀察到,F(xiàn)loat Run在同等價(jià)位,更具備音質(zhì)以及舒適度等優(yōu)勢(shì)。
韶音
韶音,專業(yè)運(yùn)動(dòng)耳機(jī)品類的佼佼者,陸續(xù)推出十余款產(chǎn)品,其中包含一款開放式耳機(jī)OpenFit。
4月11日,韶音發(fā)布舒適圈系列旗艦款OpenFit不入耳藍(lán)牙耳機(jī)。韶音中國(guó)區(qū)CEO楊云公開表示,OpenFit舒適圈的發(fā)布將打造不入耳耳機(jī)體驗(yàn)的新標(biāo)桿。
潮電智庫(kù)認(rèn)為,韶音推出“不入耳”這一概念名稱,欲意是打造自己的品牌概念,實(shí)則同屬于開放式耳機(jī)范疇。
同時(shí),OpenFit的發(fā)布也意味著一直走骨傳導(dǎo)路線的韶音正式布局開放式耳機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)。
良好的業(yè)績(jī)和龐大的專利護(hù)城河都是韶音入局開放式耳機(jī)的強(qiáng)大助力。
2022年,韶音的營(yíng)收超過(guò)了60億,近7年實(shí)現(xiàn)了超過(guò)80倍的營(yíng)收增長(zhǎng)。
截至2022年9月,韶音已經(jīng)在全球進(jìn)行了3300余項(xiàng)知識(shí)自主產(chǎn)權(quán)布局,并于2021年成為國(guó)家級(jí)專精特新重點(diǎn)小巨人企業(yè),奪得了由國(guó)家知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)局評(píng)審的全行業(yè)最高榮譽(yù)——第二十二屆中國(guó)專利金獎(jiǎng)。
這條專利護(hù)城河不僅幫助沒(méi)有固定資產(chǎn)的韶音用知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)質(zhì)押從銀行獲得貸款,解決曾經(jīng)的資金困局,也有效防止了后來(lái)者的入局。
今年年初,媒體就報(bào)道了韶音訴小米專利侵權(quán)案開庭審理。有數(shù)據(jù)統(tǒng)計(jì),僅在2021年,韶音就對(duì)20多家侵權(quán)廠商提起了200多起專利訴訟,涉及20多項(xiàng)專利。
小米
目前小米商城在售耳機(jī)款數(shù)共27款,其中包括一款骨傳導(dǎo)耳機(jī)GCDEJ01LS。
去年年底發(fā)布的小米首款骨傳導(dǎo)耳機(jī),或代表著小米已踏入開放式耳機(jī)的大門,步伐領(lǐng)先于老對(duì)手華為、OPPO等。
據(jù)悉,小米骨傳導(dǎo)耳機(jī),其背后的核心技術(shù)來(lái)自米鏈企業(yè)獵聲,獵聲在今年年初立項(xiàng)研發(fā)骨傳導(dǎo)耳機(jī),推出了新的獨(dú)立品牌Haylou。
不過(guò),開放式耳機(jī)同行似乎并不看好小米開放式耳機(jī)的前景。
王華認(rèn)為,小米作為消費(fèi)電子和生態(tài)大廠,主要優(yōu)勢(shì)在于品牌溢價(jià)與規(guī)模化營(yíng)銷,對(duì)于供應(yīng)鏈資源和產(chǎn)品成本有較好的掌控能力,但開放式耳機(jī)屬于全新的技術(shù)路線,更需要專業(yè)的廠商進(jìn)行開發(fā)創(chuàng)新。“簡(jiǎn)單來(lái)說(shuō),術(shù)業(yè)有專攻。”
Five well-know brands start to do OWS earphones,which we can see the intense market competition
TWS has been widely criticized for its damage to hearing, and bone conduction earphones have not been popularized due to health and sound quality problems. Against this backdro of demand, OWS headphones have made their debut.
According to the Electrend , five major brands including Sony, Xiaomi, Cleer, Oladance, and Shokz have all entered the OWS headphones markets, releasing a total of 10 related products.
Wang Hua, a senior executive of a certain headphone manufacturer mentioned above (pseudonym), revealed that "the company's performance of open headphones in 2022 has increased by two to three times year-on-year. From the market outlook, it is even possible to replac TWS in the future.
The true rise of open headphones has been in the past year or two.
The concept of "OWS (Open Wearable Stereo)" was first publicly proposed globally by Oladance at the 2021 Industry Summit; Cleer (a brand under Shenzhen Guanxu Electronics Co., Ltd.), which had already explored open headphones in 2019, released its first open headphones ARC sound arc in January 2022; Sony has released two consecutive open-end earphone products in the past two years.
It is reported that manufacturers such as Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Honor are following suit and will launch their own open headphones this year.
Cleer
Cleer currently sells a total of four open headphones on its official website, namely ARC "Audio Arcs", ARC II "Audio Arcs" Sports Edition, ARC II "Audio Arcs" Music Edition, and ARC II "Audio Arcs" Game Edition.
Cleer's main products include open headphones, in ear headphones, headphones, audio systems, and more. Currently, Cleer has settled in two major international luxury department stores in the UK, Harrods Harold and selfridges.
Cleer, with years of accumulation in the field of acoustics by Shenzhen Guanxu Electronics Co., Ltd., has unique advantages in production and research and development, and has its own patent features in sound production units, audio tuning, noise reduction technology, wireless connection, ergonomics, and other aspects.
It is reported that Cleer launched the first open earphone ARC sound arc in January 2022, and in the same year, Tiktok 618, 818, Double 11 and other promotional activities, it ranked first in the sales of audio-visual products, brands and stores.
After a year, Cleer launched the ARC II sound arc.
The person in charge of Cleer stated, "Currently, the open headphone market is gradually opening up, and the company is very optimistic about the future market prospects and will continue to increase its investment in this business.
Oladance
There are currently two earphones available on the official website of Oladance, namely OWS 1 and OWS 2.
OWS is a fully open wearable earphone product. OWS earphones have zero external pressure except for gravity in their natural state, and some users vividly feedback that they have forgotten the earphones on their ears.
Jay Yang from Oladance company, believes that based on people's demand for high-quality earphones, in ear headphones are not the optimal solution, and open headphones are the future. OWS headphones help users listen more authentically, immersively, and have a more harmonious human-computer interaction. A good product is a fusion of technology and art, pursuing not only functionality but also emotional experience.
At present, the Oladance, composed of 8 BOSE members, has inherited the tradition of emphasizing research and innovation. The company has sold in more than 30 countries and regions, and has won the Amazon 2022 Innovation Brand Award, the German Red Dot Product Design Award, and the Japanese crowdfunding platform Makuake 2022 Best Project Silver Award.
Oladance has entered the open headphone market with its eye-catching products, but product development in the acoustic field also requires the support of a large R&D team and production team. How to go deeper and further is a question worth considering for Oladance, which has not yet formed a scale.
Sony
Sony currently has two open headphones available on its official website, namely linkBuds true wireless headphones and Float Run floating bean non in ear open sports headphones.
Sony launched a fully open headphones Xperia Ear Duo in 2018, but the Xperia Ear Duo seems to belong to a minority frenzy, and Sony has not yet launched its sequel product.
In May 2022, Sony released the Open True Wireless Earphones linkBuds; In February of this year, Sony officially launched the Float Run floating bean non in ear open sports headphones.
Such a short new product release cycle also means that Sony has a strong presence in the field of open headphones. In Wang Hua's view, Sony has a strong international brand advantage and will play a positive role in market popularization and industry development.
From market feedback, the Float Run product has been widely recognized by consumers. Electrend has observed from online evaluation articles and comment sections that Float Run has advantages such as sound quality and comfort at the same price point.
Shokz
Shokz, a leader in the professional sports headphone category, has launched more than ten products, including an open-end headphone called OpenFit.
On April 11th, Shokz released the flagship OpenFit earless Bluetooth earphones for the Comfort Circle series. Yang Yun, CEO of Shokz China, publicly stated that the release of OpenFit Comfort Circle will create a new benchmark for the experience of earphones that are not in the ear.
Electrend believes that Shokz's launch of the concept of "not in the ear" is intended to create its own brand concept, but it actually belongs to the category of open headphones.
At the same time, the release of OpenFit also means that Shokz, which has always followed the bone conduction route, has officially laid out the open headset business.
Good performance and a huge patent moat are both powerful support for Shokz's entry into the open headphones.
In 2022, Shokz's revenue exceeded 6 billion yuan, achieving over 80 times revenue growth in the past 7 years.
As of September 2022, Shokz has carried out more than 3300 intellectual property rights distribution in the world. In 2021, Shokz will become a national key small giant enterprise specializing in specialty and innovation, and won the highest honor in the industry - the 22nd China Patent Gold Award, which was reviewed by the China National Intellectual Property Administration.
This patent moat not only helps Shokz, who does not have fixed assets, obtain loans from banks through intellectual property pledge, solving the previous financial difficulties, but also effectively prevents the entry of latecomers.
At the beginning of this year, the media reported the trial of Shokz v. Xiaomi patent infringement. According to data statistics, in 2021 alone, Shokz filed over 200 patent lawsuits against more than 20 infringing manufacturers, involving more than 20 patents.
Xiaomi
At present, there are 27 earphones on sale in Xiaomi Mall, including one bone conduction earphone GCDEJ01LS.
The first bone conduction earphone released by Xiaomi at the end of last year may represent that Xiaomi has stepped into the door of open earphones and is ahead of its old rivals Huawei, OPPO, etc.
It is reported that the core technology behind Xiaomi bone conduction earphones comes from Liesheng, a rice chain enterprise. Liesheng set up a project to develop bone conduction earphones at the beginning of this year and launched a new independent brand Haylou.
However, peers in open headphones do not seem to be optimistic about the prospects of Xiaomi's open headphones.
Wang Hua believes that Xiaomi, as a consumer electronics and ecological powerhouse, has the main advantages of brand premium and large-scale marketing. It has good control over supply chain resources and product costs. However, open headphones belong to a new technological route and require professional manufacturers to develop and innovate. Simply put, there is a specialization in the art industry.